Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication systems and, more particularly, to positioning reference signals transmitted in wireless communication systems.
Description of the Related Art
Heterogeneous wireless communication systems include base stations for providing wireless coverage within corresponding macrocells and may also include other small cells for providing wireless coverage in smaller regions that overlay the macrocells. The small cells may be referred to as access points, home base station routers, metrocells, microcells, femtocells, picocells, and the like. User equipment in the heterogeneous wireless communication system may be located using signals transmitted by the base stations. For example, the Observed Time Difference Of Arrival (OTDOA) technique uses the difference in arrival times of positioning reference signals (PRSs) transmitted by multiple base stations to a user equipment to estimate the location of the user equipment by multilateration. Base stations can transmit the PRS in one of a standardized set of configurations that are defined by a number of transmission time intervals (TTIs), a set of physical resource blocks (PRBs), and a set of periodicities. The configurations of the PRS are different for different service providers and particular configurations may be conveyed to user equipment when OTDOA measurements are requested of the user equipment.